Insect Hydrocarbons: Biology, Biochemistry, and Chemical Ecology

by Gary J. Blomquist, Anne-Geneviève Bagnères

Overview

A unique and critical analysis of the wealth of research conducted on the biology, biochemistry and chemical ecology of the rapidly growing field of insect cuticular hydrocarbons. Authored by leading experts in their respective fields, the twenty chapters show the complexity that has been discovered in the nature and role of hydrocarbons in entomology. Covers, in great depth, aspects of chemistry (structures, qualitative and quantitative analysis), biochemistry (biosynthesis, molecular biology, genetics, evolution), physiology, taxonomy, and ecology. Clearly presents to the reader the array of data, ideas, insights and historical disagreements that have been accumulated during the past half century. An emphasis is placed on the role of insect hydrocarbons in chemical communication, especially among the social insects. Includes the first review on the chemical synthesis of insect hydrocarbons. The material presented is a major resource for current researchers and a source of ideas for new researchers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521898140
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	02/04/2010
Pages:	506
Product dimensions:	6.70(w) x 9.80(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Gary J. Blomquist is the chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Nevada, Reno. He has published over 200 original research papers, reviews, chapters and books, including co-editing the books Pheromone Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (with R. G. Vogt, 2003) and Pheromone Biochemistry (with G. D. Prestwich, 1987). His work has been cited over 4500 times (ISI). Much of Blomquist's research career has involved the study of insect hydrocarbons with an emphasis on their biosynthesis, endocrine regulation and chemical analyses. He published his first paper on insect hydrocarbons 40 years ago (1969) and has remained active in this field, collaborating with many of the early leaders in the field including Larry Jackson, Dennis Nelson, Ralph Howard, Coby Schal and Anne-Geneviève Bagnères.

Anne-Geneviève Bagnères is Director of Research at the C.N.R.S. and team leader at the Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l'Insecte (IRBI) in Tours, France. She completed a PhD on the role of cuticular hydrocarbons in social insects at the University of Paris 6 in 1989, and received the Chancellerie of the Universities of Paris Prize for her PhD work. She spent a year of postdoctoral studies in David Morgan's laboratory in 1990, and a sabbatical in 1996–7 in the laboratories of Gary Blomquist and Coby Schal. A-GB is primarily interested in chemical ecology of social insects where she continues to be a leading contributor and proponent of the concept of chemical signature. While her primary research focuses on termites, she participates in several collaborative studies involving chemistry of other insects. She is an active member of the International Society of Chemical Ecology (ISCE) and the bureau of the French section of the International Union for the Study of Social Insects. She has published nearly 100 original research papers, reviews and chapters.

Table of Contents

List of contributors vii

Foreword Ralph W. Howard ix

Acknowledgments xi

Part I Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Physiology

1 Introduction: history and overview of insect hydrocarbons Gary J. Blomquist Anne-Geneviève Bagnères 3

2 Structure and analysis of insect hydrocarbons Gary J. Blomquist 19

3 Biosynthesis of cuticular hydrocarbons Gary J. Blomquist 35

4 Molecular biology and genetics of hydrocarbon production Claude Wicker-Thomas Thomas Chertemps 53

5 Site of synthesis, mechanism of transport and selective deposition of hydrocarbons Anne-Geneviève Bagnères Gary J. Blomquist 75

6 Cuticular lipids and water balance Allen G. Gibbs Subhash Rajpurohit 100

7 Chemical taxonomy with hydrocarbons Anne-Geneviève Bagnères Claude Wicker-Thomas 121

8 Chemical synthesis of insect cuticular hydrocarbons Jocelyn G. Millar 163

9 Oxygenated derivatives of hydrocarbons James S. Buckner 187

Part II Chemical Communication

10 Perception and olfaction of cuticular compounds Mamiko Ozaki Ayako Wada-Katsumata 207

11 Nestmate recognition in social insects and the role of hydrocarbons Jelle S. van Zweden Patrizia d'Ettorre 222

12 Cuticular hydrocarbon cues in the formation and maintenance of insect social groups Michael Greene 244

13 Hydrocarbon profiles indicate fertility and dominance status in ant, bee, and wasp colonies Jürgen Liebig 254

14 Chemical deception/mimicry using cuticular hydrocarbons Anne-Geneviève Bagnères M. Cristina Lorenzi 282

15 Behavioral and evolutionary roles of cuticular hydrocarbons in Diptera Jean-François Ferveur Matthew Cobb 325

16 Contact recognition pheromones in spiders and scorpions Marie Trabalon Anne-Geneviève Bagnères 344

17 Hydrocarbons as contact pheromones of longhorned beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) Matthew D. Ginzel 375

18 Polyene hydrocarbons, epoxides, and related compounds as components of lepidopteran pheromone blends Jocelyn Millar 390

19 Volatile hydrocarbon pheromones from beetles Robert J. Bartelt 448

20 Future directions in hydrocarbon research Abraham Hefetz Claude Wicker-Thomas Anne-Geneviève Bagnères 477

Index 486